


Doozy

by reddragon29



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: High School AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-19 16:37:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7369402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddragon29/pseuds/reddragon29
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke and Lexa are bus buddies for a school field trip to the aquarium and bond over Call of Duty and Hamilton. Lexa is really into octopi and Clarke just likes to draw.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First prompt from this list of AUs: http://narcissisticfelix.tumblr.com/post/145217584794/a-list-of-random-dumb-aus
> 
> [“We were all given assigned seats on our bus because shit went down too many times and now you’re my seat buddy and I don’t want the rest of the year to be awkward”]

“So I hope you all are ready for our trip to the aquarium today,” said Mr. Jaha, the group’s Advanced Placement Biology teacher. He and the three senior AP Bio classes were standing outside of the school in the parking lot next to a waiting school bus. “In my hand I have a list of names. This list of names is a seating chart for today, as well as future trips, since, um, certain things have happened in the past.” He cleared his throat a few times before continuing, the class bursting into laughter. “Please, quiet down! Please!” They did. “Alright, I’m going to read the list now. As I call your name, please be seated in the first seat open, starting on the right and going across the row and then wrapping around from there. First row! Finn Collins!...”

“You don’t think Jaha will be cool enough to seat us together?” Clarke asked her best friends, Octavia and Raven.  


“Most likely not,” Raven said.  


“There are ways around that,” said Octavia lazily, leaning against the side of the bus and crossing her arms. She popped her gum loudly.  


“Octavia Blake! Wells Jaha!”  


She groaned. “I have to sit next to his son? Ugghhh.”  


“Oh come on, he’s not that bad,” said Clarke.  


“Easy for you to say, you have a huge crush on him.”  


“I do not! I--”  


“Octavia!” Mr. Jaha called. “Please get on the bus!”  


“Coming!” She groaned again before leaving the other two.  


“Raven Reyes, and Monty Green!”  


“Well, there are worse people he could have paired me with. At least we can talk about rocket physics on the way over.” Raven left Clarke alone in the crowd of the remaining ten students.  


Mr. Jaha called a few more names, then Clarke’s. She didn’t hear who came before or after, it didn’t matter, because it wasn’t her friends and it wasn’t John Murphy. Luckily their names had already been called so there wasn’t any risk that she would be sitting next to either of them. Clarke mindlessly got on the bus and started walking down the aisle to the next empty seat. Raven was already excitedly chattering to Monty about something requiring too much math and Octavia was scowling out the window as Clarke passed. There wasn’t anyone in the next open row, so she sat in the furthest seat to the right as Jaha had initially instructed. Moments later, another girl came to join her.  


The girl had long brown hair and sharp cheekbones, her lips in a tight permanent pout on a round face. Her eyes were wide and her eyebrows perfectly shaped to compliment her flawless skin. Clarke wouldn’t say she was beautiful, but that was because she couldn’t say anything; she was speechless. The girl didn’t say anything either, staring ahead at the seat in front of them as Jaha boarded the bus after the final student and gave last minute scoldings about previous shenanigans. Then, the bus driver went over bus safety, took the wheel, and they were on their way.  
Clarke wasn’t sure what to do. Her seat buddy didn’t seem to want to talk, but Clarke wasn’t one for awkward silence in mandatory situations such as these. The ride would be about an hour long, she had time to come up with something that wouldn’t make a complete ass of herself. At least, that’s what she thought. Ten minutes into the ride, the other girl finally turned to look at her.  


“Clarke, right?” the other girl asked with a look of genuine interest.  


“Yeah,” she replied. She wracked her brain for the name of the person in front of her. “Um, Alexandra? I’m sorry, I don’t know your name, I don’t think we’ve talked before.”  


“It’s okay, you got it. I go by Lexa though.” Lexa waved her hand to dismiss Clarke’s mistake. “In a school as small as Arkadia you’d think we’d all know each other by now.”  


“Apparently not,” Clarke chuckled.  


They rode in silence. Lexa went back to staring forward and Clarke stared out the window, both taking in the chatter of the other students on the bus. At some point, 

Clarke must have dozed off, because soon Lexa was lightly tapping her shoulder and telling her they had arrived. Blinking in the light of the sun as she got off the bus, Octavia and Raven were waiting for her off to the side of the group.  


“Hey babe,” Raven greeted her. “Hi Lexa.”  


Clarke turned and saw the girl had followed her. “You know each other?”  


“Yeah, we had English together last year. How’s your sister?”  


“She’s fine, thank you,” Lexa replied. “Just started her first year at the police academy in Polis.”  


“Isn’t that where nerds go after getting their law degree?” Octavia asked with a smirk. “And then they go on to become slaves of the state?”  


“Well, yes, but--”  


“Oh lay off her, O, she’s not the one in Polis.” Clarke punched her arm.  


Jaha called for their attention. “We’re going inside now, here are the groups that you will be in...” He listed their names again. “You’ll stay in these groups for the duration of our trip. Exchange phone numbers so that if any of you get separated you can find your group. Here are maps of the building and your required scavenger hunt checklist as well.” He handed the two items to each group. “I’ll meet you all in the food court for lunch at 12:30, I’m calling roll so you all better be there on time.”  


Jaha led the classes into the building. Once inside each group looked at their map and decided where they wanted to go first. Clarke turned to her group, Lexa, Monty, and Jasper Jordan. Monty and Jasper high-fived each other, both of them grinning from ear to ear.  


“If these are the groups we’re going to have for the rest of the year Jaha is going to be in for a real treat,” Jasper laughed, clapping Monty on the shoulder and shaking him roughly.  


“Totally,” Monty agreed, also laughing. “What should we do first?”  


“On the list? Or prank? Because I would love to mess with Jaha, but I would also love to find everything on this list before lunch,” said Clarke.  


“Clarke, let down your ‘good girl’ facade! You won’t get caught, Abby won’t find out, I promise,” Jasper tried persuade her. Abby Griffin was practically married to the principal of their school, and Clarke’s very own mother.  


“That’s what Monty told Raven when they broke into the gym in the middle of the night to put rocket fuel in the demonstration volcano for the science fair. See how well that turned out? She’s probably going to be wearing that brace for the rest of her life.”  


“Okay, that was a mid-size prank, Clarke. I’m talking small ones. Small ones that all add up to a larger one. We’ll be famous for the next twenty years!”  


“Um, I think we should just find the things on the list,” Lexa chimed in.  


“Ugh, why did I get stuck in a group full of losers?” cried Jasper.  


Now it was Monty’s turn to put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “It’s cool bro, the sooner we find the things on the list the sooner we can get to pranking .”  


“True. Alright what’s the first thing on the list?”  


Lexa looked at the list in her hand. “Peyssonelia simulans. Also known as ‘burgundy crust alga.’ Anybody know what ‘alga’ is?”  


“A type of algae,” said Clarke.  


“Only you would know that,” muttered Jasper.  


Clarke turned to him and glared. “What was that?”  


He put his hands up in defense. “Nothing, nothing.”  


“Whatever you say.” She opened the map of the aquarium that Jaha had given them and located the interactive sea life area. “Algae is usually in the ‘touch and feel’ area, which is here, and here we are on the map.” She pointed. “Is there anything in the Orange Room or the Green Room that we can check off? Both of those rooms are on the way, we might as well find a few things on our way through.”  


“Yeah, I think I see a couple of types of fish on the list that could be in those rooms.”  


“Great! Between you two girls we’ll be done in no time!” Monty and Jasper high-fived again.  


Lexa groaned and shook her head in defeat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke, Raven, Octavia and the gang at the aquarium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter for you all. There is a minor gay slur at in the middle of this one...

The four students made their way through the Orange and Green Rooms to the interactive exhibit. Part of the instructions at the top of the assignment was to draw the things they found, which Clarke took care of easily. They saw all kinds of fish and sharks on their way to the exhibit, and she drew all of the ones they needed in her sketchbook to tear out and turn in later. At the exhibit they quickly found the algae and a few other creatures, and then they were back to looking at the list and the map for their next destination.

“Can’t we stop at the food court for a snack?”

“No, Jasper, didn’t you bring one in your backpack?”

“You know we can’t eat in here.”

“I’ve seen you sneaking food ever since we left the Orange Room. You shouldn’t even be hungry.”

“Please, Clarke? I’m so hungry!”

“Me too,” said Monty.

“Guys, it’s like thirty minutes until lunch and we still have twenty more things to find. I really want to get this done by the time we have to regroup.”

“How about we split up and take pictures of the stuff, and then Clarke can draw them over lunch.”Lexa suggested. “You can draw them fast, right?”

“Yeah, totally,” Clarke said, looking down and blushing. The way Lexa said her name mesmerized her: the way her tongue poked out at the l, the sound of the hard k, the small breathe at the end of it. “Just send me the pictures right after you take them so I don’t have to draw them all in front of Jaha. And so we can make sure you found everything.”

“Alright, we have a plan! Monty and I will take these rooms over here--” Jasper pointed on the map, “-- and you two can check out these three areas. See you later!” They each took a picture of the remaining items on the checklist and hurried off. 

Lexa and Clarke sighed at the same time.

“You have to put up with those two all the time?”

“Yep.”

“I am so sorry.”

“I’ll live. What are these three areas? It looks like they make up one room. Oh no, not the Octopus Room.” Clarke slapped a hand to her forehead. “Things with tentacles always creep me out. Plus, they’re all flowy and hard to draw.”

“Really? I think they’re pretty cool.”

“Then I’ll be in the next room and you can just send me the pictures to draw.”

“No, Clarke, you’re coming with me. Maybe I can change your mind.”

“Fine,” she whined.

Lexa grabbed Clarke’s arm and pulled her into the Octopus Room. The room was dim, except for the bright glows from the individual tanks. Clarke parked herself on a bench by the most brightly lit tank and opened her sketchbook. She watched as the eight-legged creature crawled around its tank. Its suction cups squished on the glass as it climbed, leaving rings of slime behind. She shivered, they really did creep her out. Lexa sat down next to her and pointed to all of the different creatures, specifying which ones Clarke needed to draw while doing so. She spoke excitedly, including facts about all of them. An employee standing nearby with a “Octopus Expert” badge looked seriously impressed by Lexa’s expansive knowledge.

Clarke on the other hand was barely listening to what the girl was saying. Trying to stay focused on the sketches, she could see the girl was glowing with excitement out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t notice that her hand stopped moving.

“Hey, Earth to Clarke?” Lexa waved a hand under her face. “Have you got all the octopi?”

“What? Oh, I don’t know. Go ahead and check.” Clarke passed her sketchbook over.

Lexa studied the page for a moment. “You’re just missing the last one, the Blue Ringed Octopus.”

“Oh whoops, sorry.” She did a rough sketch of it. “Okay, now we can meet up with Monty and Jasper. Hopefully they haven’t gotten into any trouble.”

The boys had, in fact, not gotten into any trouble: they had even found all of the things they were supposed to find. Clarke eyed Jasper’s phone suspiciously before taking it from him to look at the pictures they had taken for her. It seemed too good to be true.

“Well, that’s the last of them,” Clarke announced, returning the phone to Jasper.

“Sweet! Time for lunch!”

The four of them headed to the food court to turn in their assignment to Jaha, then they seated themselves at a table across the court from him. Once settled, they considered their lunch options. They were interrupted, though, by Octavia loudly dragging another table and set of chairs over so that she, Raven, Wells, and Finn could sit with Clarke’s group.

“This is so boring,” Octavia complained as soon as they were all present. “They don’t even have a pool to pretend to be a mermaid or swim with the fishes or something.”

“Um, why would they?” Lexa asked, confused.

“She’s just joking,” Wells explained.

“Yeah, she didn’t bring her swim suit, don’t worry,” said Clarke.

Octavia just examined her nails and said, “I don’t know why you would think I needed a swimsuit to go swimming.”

“Attention Arkadia students! I hope you’ve all enjoyed your visit so far. Before I let you all pick your lunch, which I hope you brought or have money for, I have a few announcements. Those of you who finished the scavenger hunt can turn in their checklists and sketches to me when I dismiss you. You are free to do whatever you choose until the end of the day, as long as you follow the rules. Those of you who haven’t finished have the rest of the day to get that done. We’ll meet at the entrance of the aquarium at four sharp. Enjoy your lunch!” Jaha waved a hand to signal his speech was over and they were dismissed.

Finn turned to the group. “How many more do you have to find?”

“We found them all,” Jasper gloated.

“What?” Wells cried. “Why did I get stuck in a lame group? Nathan wanted to count every single fish in each tank.”

“That sounds like a drag,” droned Octavia. “My group is also done.”

“I bet you didn’t do any of the work.”

“Nope.”

“I think Clarke and I made a pretty great team in the Octopus Room,” said Lexa. “I found all the octopi and then she drew them.”

“Ew, the Octopus Room was the worst.” Raven stuck her tongue out in disgust.

The group’s new acquaintance threw her hands up in defeat. “What is _wrong_ with octopi?”

“Their gross,” they all exclaimed.

“You’re so weird, Lexa,” Jasper said. “But I kinda dig it.”

She made a face. “Back off, champ, not interested. At all.”

“Yeah, Lexa the Lesbo isn’t going to knock boots with you, J,” Octavia told him.

Clarke suddenly stood and grabbed her best friend’s arm, dragging her out of earshot. “You’re being rude, O.”

“I’m stating the facts. The Woods girl is a lesbian.”

“Well, don’t.”

Raven approached them. “Everything okay?”

“No, Octavia is being rude, don’t you think.”

“I do agree.”

Octavia rolled her eyes. “Look, sorry, okay? I’m hungry, I get grumpy when I’m hungry.”

“We all do. Come on, let’s go see what they have to eat.” Raven led her away. Clarke went back to the table. Lexa was unrolling the top of a bagged lunch. She pulled out a sandwich, an apple, and a water bottle. The others had gone in search of something to eat, leaving them alone at the combined tables.

“Basic, don’t you think?” she commented.

“What?”

“Your lunch.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess.” Lexa took a bite of her sandwich.

“I’m sorry about Octavia. She can be kind of a butthead when she’s hungry. She’s usually pretty cool. Doesn’t out people like that.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“Yeah.”

“Where’s your lunch?”

“I don’t eat lunch, generally.”

“Well you should. People say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but in reality all of them kind of are.”

“I know. I just don’t eat lunch. I’ll be fine.”

“Whatever you say.”

Clarke paused, unsure of where to take the conversation next. “I’m sorry,” she said again.

“I know, I said it was okay.” 

They were both quiet until the others got back. Then the conversation got so loud Jaha had to come over and hush them. But they picked up right where they left off, getting even louder when Jasper and Octavia began to argue over the best way to block a goal in soccer from a certain angle. This time, aquarium security intervened and threatened to kick them out if they didn’t calm down.

“You know you love me,” Jasper said, crossing his arms and turning away from her.

“Maybe I do,” Octavia muttered.

“Ooo what did you say?” Finn exclaimed excitedly.

“Nothing,” she said even quieter. She also crossed her arms and turned away.

Raven shook her head. “You guys are such babies. Nobody here has cooties, kids.”

Soon, their lunch hour was over the others had to return to their respective groups to finish their assignment. Monty had suddenly gone quiet after the fight, and Jasper asked him what was wrong. He replied that nothing was wrong, he was just thinking about the prank they had planned, that it didn’t seem so fun after all.

“Dude, we have such a great plan! Why are you changing your mind now? We’d better get going if we’re gonna pull it off. Let’s go.” Jasper stood up and started walking away. Monty sighed and followed.

“I hope he’s okay,” Clarke thought out loud.

“It’s just a crush, he’ll be fine.” Lexa was examining the label on her water bottle.

“How do you know?”

“Trust me, I know. Gaydar.”

“Monty isn’t gay, Lexa.”

“I wouldn’t cross him off just yet, Clarke.”

Clarke looked in the direction the boys went. “I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! I'm sorry Octavia had to be the hostile one in this chapter, things will get better for Lexa and Octavia's relationship I promise.
> 
> Next one up soon :)
> 
> These are also cross posted on my Tumblr @ chipped-spines. I currently have no proofer so if you see any mistakes or typos feel free let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The principle, Mr. Kane, suspects students of pulling a prank at the school, but can't prove who did it. Bellamy says they need even teams for a Call of Duty tournament. Clarke realizes she forgot to get Lexa's number at the aquarium.

The rest of the day was uneventful; though Clarke was constantly on the lookout for whatever Monty and Jasper had planned for their prank. She didn’t see anything and it worried her because they had pulled “silent but super deadly” ones before. By the time they filed back onto the bus, she still didn’t believe nothing was going to happen. Lexa could tell she was anxious and she put a hand on her arm to calm her bouncing as Jaha gave a debrief at the front of the bus. Clarke looked at her, grateful, but only stopped bouncing until the bus started moving. Lexa didn’t remove her hand, and Clarke didn’t ask her to. Neither of them spoke for the entire ride.

When they pulled into their school’s parking lot, Lexa finally looked down at her hand and cleared her throat. “Sorry,” she said and took her hand away.

Clarke shook her head. “Totally fine. It was helping, actually. So you’re good.”

“Okay.”

The class was restless, ready to get off of the stuffy bus and go home, but Jaha made them return to the classroom for a message from the principal, Mr. Kane.

“I’ve seen enough stink bombs and trash can fires to last a lifetime, and at this point I’d rather those than what has been going on lately. I draw the line at toilet paper. Not putting it everywhere, I don’t even mind that. But not having enough, or none at all, that is not okay. Somebody took the toilet paper from all of the bathrooms,” Kane explained.

“Even the girls’?” Finn said, earning a laugh from the entire room.

“Yes, even the girls’. I am not afraid of whatever cooties you think they have, Mr. Collins. Now, I have an idea who did this. Next week I am going to interview all of the students I suspect to have done it, know who might have done it, or might have been involved. I advise you to cooperate fully, otherwise certain privileges will be taken away.”

“Like what?” Jasper asked.

“Prom is a big one.” Boos. “The privilege to perform with on sports team. Anyways, I’ll be calling students out of classes and I hope you understand how much of a disturbance this will be to your teachers and fellow classmates. Let this be a lesson that if you do something like this you need to own up for it. Have a good afternoon.”

Kane left and Jaha finally let the class leave. Clarke walked with her friends to her locker and then theirs before they all left campus for the day. They went to Octavia’s house like always to play video games with her older brother, Bellamy.

“Hey, O. Reyes. Griffin. How was the aquarium?” He called from where he was sitting on the couch watching TV. 

“Shit,” Octavia muttered as she made a beeline for her bedroom to drop off her stuff.

“It was cool,” Raven translated. “How many kills have you made so far?”

“None,” Bellamy replied. “I was waiting for you guys. I thought we’d have a competition since it’s Friday and our parents are out of town. Whoever makes the least kills in each round has to take a shot.”

“Seems simple enough,” said Clarke.

“Yes, but here’s the twist: The person who makes the most kills has to take two.”

“So we get a handicap for the next round if we win then?”

“Exactly. I hope you guys can keep up, because I’m feeling lucky today.” 

“What’s the game?” Octavia came back into the room.

“Lose the round, take a shot; win a round, take two shots. Play til you can’t.”

A wide grin spread across her face. “Oh you are all going down,” she said with an evil gleam in her eye. “I will destroy you all of you.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Bellamy chuckled.

Each of them picked up a controller. Bellamy turned on the console and changed to the correct channel for the TV. Clarke walked into the kitchen to find the bottles of vodka and tequila Bellamy had bought for them. There were a lot.

“Um, Bell, just how much do you expect us to drink?”

“You do realize how much you all drink, right? And if not you, Octavia by herself.”

“Fair enough,” she conceded as Octavia punched him hard. He winced and rubbed his shoulder.

“Nah, I also invited Lincoln over. He’ll be able to help us polish it off.” As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. “O could you get that?”

“No.” 

“Fine.” He hopped over the back of the couch and went to get the door. “Hey dude,” he said, pulling Lincoln in for a hug and clapped him on the back. “We were just about to get started.”

“Cool.” Lincoln held up a black plastic bag. “I brought booze. And snacks. And I also ordered some pizza.”

Raven groaned. “That means more ass kicking for Octavia. How do you even play better when you’re drunk anyways? It’s like it doesn’t even do anything for you.” “It does. I’m just better at holding that than you. Three drinks in and you’re already pointing your gun at the sky and spinning in circles because you can’t even hold onto the controller.”

“Not true!”

“We’ll see,” was all Octavia would say.

“Why don’t you call Lexa and make even team, Clarke? Raven suggested.

“She’s probably got other things to do than get completely wasted with strangers.”

“You won’t know until you ask.”

“Well, I don’t even have her number.”

“What? Jaha made us share numbers.”

“I figured I had Jasper and Monty’s numbers, and she was smart enough to find her way around the place.”

“Probably true, but she’s a total hottie, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have used the school trip as an excuse to get her number.”

“I didn’t think about it okay? They were planning a prank and I was worried things were going to get out of hand.”

“Clarke, you’re hopeless.”

“Can we just play, please,” she hissed back.

“The teams aren’t even!”

“Come on, Clarke, call your friend,” Bellamy insisted. “We really need even teams if we’re going to have them at all.”

“Fine! I’ll ask around! Just don’t get your hopes up.”

Clarke pulled out her phone from her pocket and texted a few people she thought might have Lexa’s number. She wasn’t too surprised when all of them texted back that they didn’t but they would also ask around. Finally, someone replied that they did and gave it to her. She dialed and hoped for the best.

“Hello?” she picked up on the second ring.

“Hey! Lexa. Um, this is Clarke. From our AP Bio class with Jaha.”

“Oh, hi, Clarke. What’s up?”

“Um, this will seem totally out of left field, but um..”

“What?”

Clarke’s friends started yelling dirty things loud enough to be heard on the other end of the phone. She waved a hand to hush them but they wouldn’t let up, so she went into Octavia’s room to finish the call.

“Sorry about that. Me, Raven, and Octavia are going to play some Call of Duty with Octavia’s brother and his friend Lincoln. We’re trying to make teams and there’s not an even number of us.”

“So you need someone to even out the teams.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“What?”

“Okay, I’ll do it. What’s the address?”

“Cool. That’s great. Address, yes, um it’s...” She gave Lexa the address of Octavia’s house. “How long til you get here? They’re going to eat me alive if it’s more than twenty minutes.”

There was a laugh. “Don’t worry, I can be there in five.” She hung up.

Clarke heaved a sigh of relief that the call was over. She went back out to the other room to the others looking at her expectantly. She told them that Lexa would be there soon and the others cheered. They all piled onto the couch and started up the game, warming up in the practice area until Lexa knocked on the door. Clarke didn’t know why she did but she practically jumped up and ran to the door.

“Hey,” she said stupidly when she opened the door.

“Hey,” Lexa chuckled.

“I hope you don’t mind alcohol, they turned the whole thing into a drinking game. I-if you’re not into it--”

“No, I’m totally cool with it.”

They stood in the doorway for a moment.

“Well, um, come on in.” Clarke stepped to the side and let Lexa past, then closed the door again. “Feel free to grab a drink or whatever. Pizza will be here soon, though I think we’ll need more. Now that you’re here.”

“Clarke! Stop gaping and get over here!”

She finally snapped out of the haze she didn’t realize she was in. Her eyes shifted to see the whole room and not just Lexa. “I am not _gaping_ ,” she muttered.

Bellamy and Octavia made room for Lexa in the middle of the couch and handed her a controller. Clarke planted herself down at her spot on the floor. Bellamy, Player 1 as usual, made the teams and chose the layout. Then the contest began.

Bellamy (Team Blue Captain), Clarke, and Lexa were one team; Lincoln, (Team Red Captain), Raven, and Octavia were the other. He had chosen Zombie Mode and the hunt was on.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavia is given a run for her money.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Putting up two instead of one today since this one is so short. Hope you're all enjoying the story so far!

Lexa wasn’t good, but this was definitely not her first time playing. She stayed just above the last place score each time, drinking a half shot as last minutely agreed on. Anybody who didn’t come in first or last had to take half a shot. They played for hours. Octavia won almost every round and took two shot each time, but only seemed to be getting higher kill scores with each round. Finally, she declared herself bored and demanded that they switch to single-player tournament style. They all agreed.

And Lexa destroyed them all.

“Well,” Lincoln said in the stunned silence.

Lexa just stood up and thanked them for the game before walking out the door without another word.


	5. Chapter 5

They had all fallen asleep on the couch and all woke up late the next morning groaning with huge hangovers. Clarke rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched her sore back. She looked around at the others, wondering if the rest of them were as hungry as she was. Raven was already in the bathroom puking her guts out. Octavia looked like she was praying Raven would be done soon so she could do the same. The boys seemed to be fine, they just popped some painkillers and drank a gallon of water each. They left to find some food.

“I’m going outside for some air,” she whispered, and it sounded like she was screaming at the top of her lungs. She rubbed her face again and put on her sunglasses before heading out the sliding glass door that led to the small yard. Clarke sat against the house with her knees pulled in close.

“Good morning.”

She looked up, squinting into the sun, to see Raven standing over her.

“How are you feeling?”

“Not so good. How is your stomach?.”

“Inside out and upside down..”

“Rough.”

“Yeah.”

Raven went back inside the house. Clarke remained on the ground for a while, taking in the fresh air and keeping her eyes closed, head between her legs. Some time later, Lincoln and Bellamy returned with some take out for the group. All of them were eager to eat but could barely keep anything down. After lunch, Clarke took Raven home and circled back to her own house two blocks away from Octavia’s. She collapsed on her bed as soon as she closed her bedroom door behind her, ignoring her mother’s greetings. Her mother, Abby, knocked lightly on her door.

“Clarke,” she called through the door. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, Mom. I’m just really tired. We stayed up really late last night playing Call of Duty.”

“Well, alright. I made some pie if you’d like some. I’m keeping it in the oven so it stays warm. I can put it in the fridge if you’re not going to eat any in the near future, I have to go fill in for a last minute shift at the hospital. Someone called in sick.”

Clarke dragged herself and opened the door to face her mother. “I’m fine, Mom. I’ll put the pie in the fridge, go ahead over to the hospital. I’ll see you when you get home.” She smiled.

“Okay, hon.” Abby kissed Clarke’s forehead. “Have a good day. And don’t forget to eat dinner. Please?”

“Of course, Mom. I can manage, don’t worry.”

“Good. I should be back by tomorrow morning. Bye hon.” Abby kissed her daughter’s forehead one more time, then left for the hospital.

Clarke immediately returned to her faceplant on her bed. It didn’t take her long for her to fall asleep. She only woke up to her phone vibrating several times in a row under her stomach. Groaning, she sat up and checked the screen with bleary eyes. Raven and Octavia were having a debate about who would be the first to bang Lexa. They were betting it would be Clarke, but Raven was putting more money on herself. Clarke finally replied that neither of them were into chicks so why were they even discussing it. Also that she didn’t want to bang Lexa anyways.

_Clarke don’t lie to yourself,_ Raven replied.

_I’m not._

_Dude you’ll die a virgin if you think you don’t think she’s hot_ , Octavia said.

_Um I’m not a virgin????_

_Oh right, she fucked Finn, O._

_That idiot didn’t count._

_Uh yes he did??? Guys, just because I regret it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen._

_Fine, you’ll die a pussy virgin._

_Like that’s any different Raven_

_Fuck you both._

_I wouldn’t put it past you._

_Oh please, I wouldn’t get tangled with friendship and sex again._

_Ah yes, the infamous Finn scandal._

_Seriously guys, stop._

Clarke’s phone vibrated to tell her she had another message outside of the group chat. It was Lexa: _How did you get my number? I don’t remember giving it to you at the aquarium._ She quickly switched conversations.

_I asked around for it, I hope you don’t mind._

_No, I don’t mind at all. I was just wondering. Your number could come in handy for any AP Bio questions that I might have._

_Probably going to be the other way around. I know absolutely nothing about Biology. The only reason I’m taking this class is for my college app._

_Oh come on, you probably know something._

_I know more about History than Biology only because I’ve listened to the Hamilton musical and I’m really into Postmodern art. So that knowledge doesn’t even go that far._

_Omg Hamilton._

_You’ve listened to it?_

_Hell yes._

_Angelica or Eliza?_

_Angelica, all the way._

_She was clearly the smarter of the two. I felt bad for Eliza but Angelica did warn her. That said, I’m definitely leaning more towards Eliza because my pity outweighs her stupidity in my book._

_Whatever you say._

_I’m also upset that the tickets are sold out at the theatre here. Even the $600 season tickets. I would pay that much to see Hamilton even if I didn’t like any of the other shows this season._

_Same. I think our only hope is to go out to a middle of nowhere theatre that’s hosting it._

_I doubt it would be much different out there. Smaller towns, smaller theatres._

Clarke’s phone started vibrating nonstop again. She groaned. It was Octavia and Raven again, wondering where she’d gone off to. She apologized and told them someone else had texted her.

_Ooo was it Lexa?_

_Yeah you never leave us for this long for a text from someone else._

_Okay fine, it was, are you happy?_

_Um, no??? What did she want?_

_She was just wondering how I got her number._

_And????_

_We were talking about Hamilton._

_Oh my fucking god not that stupid musical again._

_It’s a great show! Full of hate and love and history._

_Whatever. Just don’t make me listen to it ever again._

_I can’t promise that, O._

_Reyes??!?? A little help here???_

_Yeah, Clarke, I’m going to have to agree with O on this one. Don’t make us listen to it anymore._

_Ughh but who else am I supposed to cry about it to then??_

_Lexa, obviously._

_I guess._

She switched conversations again.

_That’s true_ , Lexa had replied.

_Okay but how do you feel about Hamilton and Burr?_

_Like you mean them together?_

_Yeah._

Clarke switched conversations.

_Clarke I swear to god you’re gaping through text._

Switch.

_Totally. They were destined._

_I cry every time at Dear Theodosia because it’s like they’re synced up or something._

_I know right???_

_If they could have periods I bet they would be synced up lol._

_Most likely haha._

_Have you heard the reprise that wasn’t in the show? It’s also very heart wrenching._

_No, and I don’t think I can handle any more Hamilton related tears right now. I actually just finished listening to the soundtrack for like the thousandth time._

_Wow, Lexa, a little obsessed?_

_Oh shut up, you know you’ve also listened to it about a thousand times through too._

_I’m not denying that I’m obsessed. Though it sounds like you are._

_I am not obsessed, excuse me._

_Really? Because denying it only makes it worse._

_Okay fine, maybe a little. It could definitely be a lot worse._

_Do you want to come over sometime and cry over it together?_

_That would be terrible but also sounds like so much fun let’s do it._

_What about next Friday?_

_I have the club meeting until 5 but after that I’m totally free._

_Cool. How long do you think it would take you to get to my house?_ Clarke gave Lexa the address.

_Okay funny thing about this, you live down the street from me. We just moved at the end of the school year to the blue house with the daisys out in front._

_Oh my god how could I have not noticed this?_

_We went three years without ever having a conversation, we weren’t exactly on the lookout for each other lol. I didn’t notice either._

_Well, better late than never lol._

_Truly :)_


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven is convinced this is a date. Lexa gives Clarke *the look*.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this posted! Collecting virtual creatures has been more of a priority lately. I'll be posting this and the next chapter today to make up for it.

The next week couldn’t have gone by any slower for Clarke. Her friends wouldn’t let her even look in Lexa’s direction without teasing her. They didn’t share any classes besides AP Bio, but their lunches lined up so Clarke was able to follow her with her eyes. She caught Lexa looking at her a few times as well from her corner of the cafeteria, where she ate at a table alone. It was always the same thing: peanut butter and jelly sandwich, water, and an apple. Every time she thought she caught Lexa’s eye, Lexa looked down at her food again. They texted a few times to touch base about their planned hang out, but that was all. Clarke was starting to get anxious.

“Clarke? Clarkey! Hey! Do you want the tickets to the art show tonight or not?” Raven waved her hand in front of her friend’s face.

“Um, no, I’ve actually got plans for tonight.”

“Oh, what are you doing?”

_I’m hanging out with Lexa the Lesbo, because I think I’ve got a huge lesbo crush on her,_ Clarke thought. But out loud she said, “Lexa’s coming over to cry over Hamilton with me. Since you guys refuse to.”

“So is it going to be like a date thing?” Octavia asked.

“No! Why would it be?”

“She seems to think it is. I saw her shopping for a new dress at the mall yesterday.”

“Since when are you ever at the mall?” Raven asked accusingly.

“Never.” With that, Octavia seemed to exit herself from the conversation, putting her headphones back over her ears.

Raven rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Clarke, you better not mess this one up.”

“It’s not that serious, Reyes.”

“What if she wants to kiss you or something?”

“This is no time to be homophobic.”

“I don’t mean it like that. I mean, with you being bi and all...I just figured. Maybe you would tap that on the first date.”

“Ew, no, why would I do that? That would be weird.”

“This is no time to be homophobic, Clarke.” Raven mocked her words.

“Gay people aren’t any different than straight people. Some of us like to take it right into the bedroom, while others, me included, like to take it nice and slow.”

“So you would kiss her.”

Clarke gathered her bag and stood up to leave for class. “I am not answering that,” she said sweetly. The bell rang and the entire cafeteria of kids pushed through the double doors as not to be late for their fifth period classes. Fifth period for Clarke meant AP Bio, with Lexa. That day, Jaha announced once class started, they were going to dissect squids. Usually, Octavia, Raven, and Clarke fought over who would get paired with each other and who would get paired with a random. However, this time Octavia and Raven immediately paired up and looked at Clarke expectantly.

“Want to be partners?”

Clarke looked over to see Lexa staring at her with innocent eyes. “Yeah, sure.”

Lexa sat on the stool next to her as Jaha proceeded to run through the instructions and lab sheet they were supposed to fill out to report their findings. She left for a minute to pick up their bag of supplies, the worksheet, and the tray with the squid on it, the whole time Clarke never took her eyes off of her. Lexa opened the bag of supplies and began laying it all out on their table. She picked up the scalpel.

“Would you like to do the honor?”

“Um no, I really don’t like cutting things open. I’ll just draw them all again, if that’s alright.” Clarke scooted her stool further away from the squid. “I can also write the lab report if you take the notes."

“Yeah that’s okay. You like to draw? I noticed on Friday that you’re pretty good at it.”

“Oh, those weren’t really all that good. Just some quick sketches. I have better drawings in my sketchbook if you want to see.”

“Well for ‘quick sketches’ I thought they were good.” Lexa pressed the scalpel into the creature’s squishy body. “I would love to see some of the ones you think are good.”

“I can show you some when you come over?”

“That would be cool. Here, take the scissors and cut this part off.”

“Uck. Do you want this back?” _I should probably hide the sketchbooks with the drawings of her in it. That would be super embarrassing._

“No, just go ahead and stick it in the trash.”

Clarke slid off her stool and went to throw the squid piece away. When she returned, Liexa had taken all the internal organs out of the squid and placed them on the tray next to the body. She was starting to make labels for each one. Clarke was starting to feel queasy.

“You don’t look so good.”

“Not feeling good either.”

Lexa laughed. “Go get some air, I’ll finish up here.”

Clarke gave her a weak but grateful smile and went to stand by the open window. Raven was also there, her face positively green as she took deep breaths.

“Octavia’s having a great day,” she groaned. “She keeps waving pieces in my face and making me try to guess what they’re called. It’s disgusting.”

“Sorry,” Clarke chuckled.

“What about you? Why are you over here? Your lab partner doesn’t seem like the type to do disgusting things like that to drive you away.”

“She didn’t, I just didn’t like the look of something with it’s organs spilled everywhere.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. But I completely agree.”

“Yeah. So I’m writing the lab report and doing the drawing when she’s done labeling them. Which probably won’t take her very long. She seems to actually like things with tentacles. We were at the aquarium and she was naming all of the octopi without looking at the signs.”

“Wow, that’s actually pretty impressive.”

“I know right?” She peeked over to see Lexa scribbling notes into her notebook. “I guess she’s kind of cute.”

“Clarke, you’re in denial. If you could see the way you look at her, you would be agreeing with me. I’m willing to bet that you already have a sketchbook full of her.”

“I don’t, Raven, so you just lost the bet. I should get back to the table, she looks like she’s almost done with the notes. Text me if you and O want to hang out this weekend.”

“Of course we do!” Raven said and Clarke jumped off the window sill sighing.

Lexa shoved her notebook towards Clarke. “Here are all my notes, the squid is laid out on the tray ready to be drawn.”

“Thanks, Lexa.” She pulled the notebook closer to her own to start the report. “I really don’t like looking at stuff spilling out of something’s body.”

“It’s no problem. As long as you get that done. If you don’t, then we might have a problem.”

Clarke looked at Lexa and saw the serious look on her face. She felt awkward under the look, like Lexa was going to skin her alive if she didn’t do her part of the work. “Um...”

“I’m just joking, Clarke,” she laughed. Her face turned kind and Clarke immediately let herself relax, and she laughed nervously in response. She looked down at the paper, trying to ignore the fact that her heart was racing and all she could think about was Lexa’s eyes exploring her body with that same serious look.

“Clarke?” _Control the burning on your face. Breathe._

“Yeah?”

“You zoned out again, Clarke.” _Please stop saying my name._ “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Um.” She swallowed. “Sorry. Sorry, I’ll get back to this. No more zoning out.”

“Okay Clarke.” Lexa turned to prod at the squid parts to pass the time. “You’re still staring.”

“Sorry.” _It’s like she fucking knows what saying my name does to me._

Clarke threw herself into her work and didn’t look up until the bell rang for the period to end. When it did, she quickly tore the pages out of her notebook and left them on the table. She shoved the notebook into her bag and moved as fast as she could out the door to her next class. For the rest of the day all she could think about was her name on Lexa’s lips, and that look, that oh so intense look, she had on her face. Every time she imagined that face she felt her stomach drop ten stories. The last bell rang and she ignored Raven and Octavia’s calls to her on her way to her car.

There was a note from her mother on the front door saying she would be at the hospital until at least 3 AM, and that there was money for pizza on the table in the kitchen. This made Clarke more nervous than she already was. She and Lexa would be alone in her house for at least two hours for the entirety of the Hamilton soundtrack. An hour later, her phone buzzed with a text from Lexa saying she would be over in a few minutes. Clarke could survive two hours. Right?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke finds her ability to function slightly impaired. Lexa finds a sketchbook with several drawings of her in it.

“So um, here’s my room.” Clarke let Lexa go in before her. “Sorry it’s kind of a mess.”

“It’s fine, mine is probably worse.”

“You can go ahead and sit on the bed or the desk chair if you’d like. I’m just going to put these sketchbooks away...”

“Oh that’s right, you were going to show me some.”

Clarke stopped in the middle of stuffing three books into her closet. “Y-yeah. But not these ones. These ones are private.”

“Oh I see.” Lexa wandered over to Clarke’s bookshelf. She picked up one of the sketchbooks there and held it up as if to ask if it was okay to look at.

“Go ahead.” Clarke flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling as her new friend flipped through the pages.

“Who is this?” she asked after a while.

Clarke got up from the bed and peered over her shoulder. “That’s my dad.” He’s dead. It took all she had not to grab the book and curl up with it in the corner.

“And this?”

It was very clearly her. “Um. That’s you. S-sometimes I draw people I meet just to practice facial structure. It also helps me remember their name,” she tried to explain.

“That’s reasonable.”

“I guess, yeah.”

She turned to the next page, and the next...and the next. “These are all of me...?”

 _Shit shit shit I grabbed the wrong red one._ “Uh, here, I’ll just take that back now.” Clarke scrambled to take the book from her and close it, but Lexa held it away out of reach and studied the page in wonder.

“We’ve only known each other for a week. How can you draw me in such detail?”

“Lots of practice?”

“I think it’s impressive. Nobody has ever paid that much attention to detail about me.”

“I don’t see why. It’s a lot to capture, and it’s nowhere near as perfect as you, but it’s something I’m willing to work on until it is. If it ever will be.” Clarke saw Lexa’s eye studying her with amusement. “I mean--I’ll turn on the music. Sorry I talk so much.” She went to get her laptop and sat on the bed with it.

“Clarke.”

“What?”

Lexa came to sit beside her. “You’ve done a beautiful job.”

“Really? Thanks.”

“I think you could make it as an artist.”

“Probably not. Besides, I’m on track to go to medical school and become a doctor like my mom.”

She looked at her questioningly. “But you don’t like parts spilling out of bodies?”

Clarke shrugged. “I’m supposed to do it, doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“But why would you? Why would you do something you don’t like? Especially when you’re so good at something else.”

“Ever since my dad died my mom has been pushing me to become a doctor, too, so that we could be a team just like they were. There are plenty of fields that don’t require looking at blood and guts.”

They sat in silence.

“My mom’s a surgeon. We’ll never be a team.”

Lexa put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t we start the music?” she asked softly.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Clarke opened her laptop and logged in. She tried to get her breathing under control as she clicked on the iTunes icon on her desktop and it loaded up. Lexa seemed to be sitting especially close to her, her breath able to make Clarke’s hair shift slightly. Suddenly she sprang up and said she had to get her speakers from the other room. She left Lexa on the bed to look for them in her mom’s bedroom, where she located them easily, and dreaded returning to her own room. Pushing her hair out of her face, she attached the speakers to her laptop and started the soundtrack.

“ _How does a bastard, orphan, son of a..._ ” it began.

Clarke was self conscious of her scratchy voice, but Lexa came in loud and strong with the lyrics. She was pleasantly surprised by this, and it gave her the confidence to join in by Burr came in for the second time. Together, they sang the entire soundtrack, all two and a half hours of it, complete with crying during the sad parts and seductive dancing during Say No To This. Clarke felt herself getting hot during the song, but she shoved the feeling down quickly, not wanting to make things weird the first time they hung out. Not that Lexa looked uncomfortable or anything. In fact, she also looked to be shoving down feelings. Still, Clarke didn’t think that was something either of them wanted to act on at the moment.

After the last note of _Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story_ faded out, they both collapsed on the floor with sad tears running down their faces despite their content smiles. They both let out happy sighs and laid quietly for a few minutes.

Clarke’s stomach growled. 

“Wow. Hungry?” Lexa laughed.

“I guess so,” Clarke agreed. “My mom left money for pizza if that’s alright with you?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. What toppings were you thinking of getting?”

“Just probably pepperoni and olives.”

“That’s fine.”

“Alright then.” She pulled up the web browser and ordered the pizza.

It arrived a short while later. Clarke went to get the door and pay the delivery person, and come back to find Lexa looking through another one of her sketchbooks. It was one of the ones she had put in her closet. One of the ones she hide because it was filled with drawings of Lexa and only Lexa.

“You sure do have a lot of drawings of me.”

“Um, yeah,” was all Clarke could say to that.

“They’re all amazing.” She turned to one more page before setting the book aside and standing to take the pizza from Clarke. “I think now is the right time to tell you that I’m a vegetarian.”

Clarke shoved her face in her hands. “Oh, oh my god. I am so sorry. I thought--I asked and you said--”

“I know,” she said, laughing. “But if I had told you, I wouldn’t be able to do this.” She opened the pizza box and plucked a piece of pepperoni off of the pie. “Come here.”

Clarke moved closer to her.

“Closer. And open your mouth.”

She did, and Lexa pushed the pepperoni into her mouth. Clarke couldn’t help the little moan that exited her body as she closed her mouth around the warm piece of meat. Lexa smiled at the sound and didn’t move away, even as Clarke chewed and swallowed, hard.

“I hope you enjoy all the pepperoni, Clarke,” she whispered. Her lips were so close to Clarke’s as the p’s of the word made them pop. Not to mention the way her stomach always dropped when Lexa said her name. “I have to go. I’ll see you on Monday.” And with that, she slipped out of the room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa is really smooth for some reason, and Clarke can't keep up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to let me know about any mistakes. As always, thanks for reading!

Clarke woke the next morning to her phone vibrating. She groaned as she checked the time on the screen, because it was only 6:30 AM and she was getting a call from Octavia.

“What,” she growled.

“Don’t snap at me, I’m just as grumpy as you are. Raven made me get up early to go to your house. I’m calling to warn you, we’re five minutes out.”

She scramble out of bed to get some running clothes on. “Thanks for the heads up, O.”

“Yeah whatever, I gotta go, she doesn’t know I’m calling so act surprised okay?”

“Got it.”

“See you soon.”

Clarke threw her phone on the bed and ran to the bathroom to run a brush through her hair. She ran back to her room and started to quickly pack her gym bag so it would appear she was already awake anyways before Raven showed up. There was a loud knock at the door. Clarke rushed down the stairs to get the door as quickly as she could before they knocked again and woke her mother up.

“Clarkey!” Raven pushed past her into the house. Octavia followed more slowly and quietly.

“Raven, shush, my mom had a late shift this morning.”

“She can sleep through most things, don’t worry about it.”

“Still, she needs the sleep. Why are you here so early?”

“I couldn’t wait to hear all about your date yesterday!”

“It wasn’t a date. If she bought a new dress on Thursday, she didn’t wear it yesterday. She just had on what she wore to school. And all we did was sing to Hamilton and eat pizza.” _Actually I ate pepperoni that she fed me._

“I find that hard to believe, Clarkey.”

“Stop calling me that. I’m serious, that’s all that happened.”

“No kissing? No cuddling?”

“Nope. Just singing. She has an amazing voice.”

“There! I knew it. Something extra good about the date.”

“For the last time, it wasn’t a date. Come upstairs and keep your voice down.”

The three of them went upstairs to Clarke’s room and sat on the floor for an hour, talking more about their week and what they wanted to do that weekend. Raven constantly tried to return to the topic of Lexa, but Octavia shut her down every time and changed the subject. Finally, Octavia gave up and asked if they all wanted to go to breakfast.

“I’ll make us some french toast,” Clarke said. “I don’t really feel like going out.”

“But you had your gym stuff all ready to go?” Raven raised an eyebrow and the other two friends knew they were busted.

“Yeah, well, you interrupted my mojo. Now I want to stay in,” she tried.

“Right,” Raven said skeptically. “You better make it quick, I’m starving.”

“Will do.”

Clarke went downstairs and pulled out the ingredients she needed for the toast. While the pan was heating up, she also pulled out some sausages and put the water on for coffee. A short time later, Octavia was shoving Raven down the stairs insisting she keep her mouth shut. When she placed the finished sausages on their plate, all she could think about was Lexa’s lips next to her ear whispering.

“Yo, Clarke.”

“Pepperoni.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” She put the plate on the table and sat in one of the two remaining chairs.

“You seem sort of out of it this morning.”

“No? Not at all.”

“Raven, what did I say earlier?”

“O, how can you not see it?”

Octavia slammed her hand on the table. “Maybe because you woke us up at six-thirty in the fucking morning. Neither of us have had coffee yet. Neither of us are completely together yet. So why don’t you lay off until we’ve woken up a little.”

Raven didn’t seem surprised at all. She just held her hands up in defense and said, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, just realize that not all of us are morning people.”

“Okay, okay.”

“Good morning, everyone.” Abby walked into the kitchen.

“Hi Mom. Did we wake you?”

“Not at all. We lost a young patient this morning that we’ve had with us for a while. I couldn’t really sleep. Is that coffee I smell?”

“It is, Mrs. Griffin,” Raven told her. “And french toast and sausage.”

“Sounds great.” Abby got a plate from the cupboard. Then she came to sit in the final seat at the table. “I heard you whispering about a possible date that Clarke went on yesterday?” She looked positively amused.

“Mooom,” Clarke whined. “It wasn’t a date. One of our classmates came over yesterday for a few hours to cry over Hamilton with me.”

“And that’s not a date?”

“No.” She glared at Raven, who just smiled.

“Do you not see the way she looks at you? She’s into you. And you’re into her.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“What kind of pizza did you get last night?” her mom asked.

“Pepperoni, but Lexa’s a vegetarian,” she replied.

Raven pointed an accusing finger at Clarke. “Octavia, please explain to Clarke why that’s important to mention.”

“You said pepperoni earlier,” Octavia offered.

“Whatever! We’ve only known each other for a week. If anything had happened I probably would have freaked out and called you as soon as she left.”

“Or you would be too embarrassed to tell us.” Raven put her plate in the sink and clapped her hands together. “Time to go to the mall!”

“Most of the stores aren’t even open yet, Raven. They won’t be for another thirty minutes.”

“But they’re having a sale at the parts store and I want to get there before the best pistons are gone and they run out of coolant for my Jeep. The line is probably all the way around the floor already.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Octavia grumbled, but also cleared her plate to the sink. This left Clarke shaking her head and telling them to wait so she could change into some jeans. A few minutes later she was kissing her mother goodbye and climbing into the Jeep with her best friends.

“I call the AUX cord!” Clarke said as she tried to retrieve it from where it was stashed in the console, but Octavia was quicker.

“You always get to pick the music.”

“Because you always put on some weird heavy metal, O. Give Clarke the cord,” Raven decided. “Put on some Ariana Grande.”

“And you call my music weird,” Octavia sank back into her seat and crossed her arms.

Raven and Clarke spent the next fifteen minutes singing to songs from Ariana’s album, Dangerous Woman, while Octavia pouted behind them. When they pulled into a spot in the parking lot, they got out of the car and had to stop Raven from running at breakneck speed towards the building. Her leg was still nowhere near perfectly healed and she could barely walk as it was with the brace. She was in no condition to be running across a parking lot where people were only looking for parking spaces and not people. Instead, she pulled them along behind her as deadweights. They didn’t let go until they got to the elevator that would take them up to the fourth floor; Raven wasn’t a complete idiot, she knew her leg wouldn’t make it up more than half a flight of stairs.

“Alright, when we get up there, you are going to let me run into that store. No more deadweights,” Raven instructed as soon as the elevator arrived.

“Fine,” Clarke conceded. “Just be careful grease monkey.”

“I will.” And with that, the elevator doors opened and she was on her way to her own version of Disneyland.

Both Octavia and Clarke sighed, choosing to walk calmly past the storefronts to make sure Raven wasn’t fighting some huge Hells Angels member for a motorcycle part (it wouldn’t be the first time). They found the store to be moderately fully, nowhere near as full as Raven had warned them it would be. She wasn’t fighting anyone, and she was happily looking at all the different items the store had to offer. They could see she already had the things she came to get in her hand.

“If only I could afford an old car that I could fix up,” she was saying to herself as they approached.

“Getting anything else?” Clarke asked.

“I forgot I needed a new oil cap and they’re seventy-five percent off so I am definitely getting one of those.” She bounced anxiously as she stared at the wall. “With my next paycheck I could get these new cylinders now and just not have enough money for food...”

“No, Raven, you are not doing that.”

“But--”

“No.”

“Okaaayyy. What about this radiator hose? They’re twenty dollars cheaper and with the sale within my budget.”

“Just barely!”

“I’ll only have to minimize five meals!”

“And you’ll say that the next time you come into this store next week. Next thing you know you won’t be eating at all.”

“Not true. I know how to budget my money, Clarke.”

One of the store employees came up beside them. “Can I help you find something today?”

“I think I have everything, thanks,” Raven replied without looking away from the wall.

“Alright, have a good day.” They left them.

Raven started muttering to herself again. “Wick said he’ll let me have the ‘66 Ford Mustang if I bring in some extra parts, all I need is a set of...” She wandered off.

Her friends were glad to have a break from her chatting and energy. They went and sat outside the store to wait for her. Clarke pulled out her phone and swiped back and forth across her home screens to pass the time. She thought about sending a text to Lexa. But what would she say? What if she was reading the signs wrong?

“Just text her.” Octavia was leaning back on the bench with her eyes closed, arms crossed over her chest again. “I can tell you want to text her.”

“But what would I say?”

“Ask her if she had fun yesterday? I don’t know. You’re better at this than I am. You’ll come up with something.”

She opened the Messages app. Her fingers hovered over the letter h.

“Just do it.”

_Hey._

A few minutes later: _That’s all you have to say?_

_Um, yes?_

_No one else was in the room where it happened._

_Okay no more Hamilton lyrics before I break out dancing in the middle of the mall._

_You’re at the mall? I am not throwing away my shot._

_I hate you._

_How can you say no to this?_

_There is nowhere I can go to dance and cry this all out. You’re nonstop, you know that?_

_I haven’t slept in a week. I am weak, I am awake. I may not be a bastard orphan, but I am an orphan that's in need of a break._

_From what? And you’re an orphan?_

“Look what Titus gave me!” Raven was rushing out of the store holding a bag. She held it open for them to see what was inside. “He gave me a bunch of scrap metal and a grab bag of nuts and bolts.”

“How nice of him,” said Clarke as she jumped up to look. Her phone buzzed but she ignored it for the time being, shoving it in her pocket to give Raven her full attention.

“It’s basically enough to get started on the Mustang if Wick gives it to me. And I’ll be able to practice my welding now.”

The three of them fell into light conversation as they walked to the elevator that would take them back down to the first floor of the mall. They exited the building and once they were in the car Clarke pulled out her phone again to check her messages. She had barely unlocked it when Raven started shouting music requests at her.

“Watch the road,” she shot back. A truck had just cut them off when Raven had tried to leave the parking lot.

_I just got out of the system, and now I live with my sister, Anya. I just need a break from my club activities. We’re preparing for a tournament that’s happening next month._

Clarke didn’t want to ask what happened to her parents, but she did want to know. _I see. What club are you in?_

_It’s kind of like a mixed martial arts type of thing. With swords!_

_That sound really cool. And dangerous._

_Don’t worry, we wear protective gear._

_Good._

_Mostly._

_Lexa! Please be careful._

_Protective much?_

_Can’t have you ruining that perfect face._

_If you only knew how perfect your face was, you wouldn’t care about mine._

Raven suddenly hit the brakes and Clarke fumbled her phone, sending it falling to the floor of the Jeep. Her face burned from the last text she read. The phone had gotten disconnected from the AUX cord.

“Clarke! That was my favorite song!”

“You’re the one who slammed on the brakes!

“Don’t blame me, it was the guy in the Prius who thinks he’s so cool trying to save the planet. I appreciate the effort bud!” she yelled out the window after him. “You best believe I am putting that song on when we get inside the house.” The Jeep pulled into Clarke’s driveway.

They all got out of the car. On her way up the steps, Raven winced and collapsed with the next step she tried to climb.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” she tried to reassure them, but her face betrayed her; she was clearly in a great amount of pain. “I shouldn’t have walked so fast earlier, probably.”

Abby opened the front door to see what was going on. “I heard the car pull into the driveway. Are you okay Raven? Come on, let’s get you inside.”

Together the three of them helped her up and onto the couch. The entire time Raven kept fussing and claiming that she was fine, even though she wasn’t able to stand on her own and kept hissing in pain. Abby went to get her something for the pain and Clarke brought down a blanket from her room. Octavia settled on the floor next to her and connected her phone to the Griffins’ stereo system, putting Raven’s favorite song on for her. After placing the blanket over Raven, Clarke also sat on the floor. Her phone buzzed and she glanced at the screen.

_Too forward too soon? Lexa asked._

Clarke waited until her mom was back with pain medication and a glass of water to distract Raven before unlocking the phone to answer the text. _Sorry, Raven’s leg is acting up, we had to make sure she didn’t hit anyone on the road. And it wasn’t too forward at all._

_That’s good to know. Then I guess it wouldn’t be too forward to ask you to come over for dinner tonight? It’s Anya’s birthday and she’s having a small party. Your friends are also invited of course._

_I’m not sure Octavia is quite over her defeat last weekend but I’m sure the rest are totally in to come over if they aren’t busy._

_Great I’ll let Anya know then._

_I’m curious: What is perfect about my face?_

_Several things, but I would have to say your eyes are the cherry on top. I could get lost in those baby blues forever._

“Does anyone feel up to a party tonight? It’s Lexa’s sister’s birthday.” She needed to distract herself. Lexa’s flirtation was getting her worked up. Though, she did bring it upon herself by asking about her face.

“Sure!” Raven replied instantly.

“What about you O?

“Only if we don’t play CoD.”

“I can’t guarantee that. I’m assuming she’s so good because they have the game at their house.”

“Then I’m not going.”

_Um I don’t have a response to that lol. Btw, Octavia said she’ll only come if we don’t play CoD. And Raven is in if her leg is better._

_I’ve rendered the No Strings Clarke helpless, what an accomplishment. Tell her I promise we won’t play CoD._

“She promises we won’t play CoD, Octavia.”

“I’ll be there then.”

“Can someone text Lincoln? Ask him if he’s busy? And Bell.”

_She’ll be there then. I’m not all that flirty, seriously. I don’t know why they’ve given me that nickname it’s horrible and it leaves people thinking bad things about me._

_Sorry, I won’t use it again._

“Lincoln and Bell said they’re already over there now to help set up. Apparently she and Lincoln are cousins and forgot to tell us,” Octavia said. She shrugged when Raven and Clarke gave her questioning looks.

_Thanks, Lexa. I just heard that Lincoln is your cousin?_

_Oh yeah, I guess I should have mentioned that when I came over last week. He and Bellamy are already here, helping get the house cleaned and everything._

_That’s what Octavia said. What time should we come over?_

_I think Lincoln and Bellamy are planning to start the grill around 5:15, so how about 5? And no gifts. Anya doesn’t like them._

_No gifts, got it. I gotta go, but we’ll see you tonight!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa puts on a dress and Clarke can't say no to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost there! Just one more chapter after this one. I think ten is a good round number for this sort of thing?  
> Feel free to let me know if there are any mistakes. As always, thanks for reading!

At five, Clarke, Raven, and Octavia were walking up the Woods’ front lawn. The front door was open and they saw Lexa waving them in from the kitchen at the back of the house.

“There are sodas in the cooler outside, and Lincoln actually already started the grill so that will be ready soon,” Lexa told them. She waved the somewhat large knife she was using to chop bell peppers to indicate.

“Thanks,” said Octavia before she went straight out the back door to chide her brother for not telling her who Lincoln was either.

“Do you need any help with that?” Clarke asked.

“No, I think I’ve got it. But you can take the bowls of dip out if you’d like.”

“Okay.” Clarke and Raven each picked up a bowl and went into the yard. Octavia, Bellamy, and Lincoln were chatting by the grill. There were two other women talking off to the side of them, and the taller one smiled and waved the two girls over to the table of food.

“You can set those here,” she said. “I’m Anya, Lexa’s sister.” Anya extended her hand for them to shake, which they did as they introduced themselves as well.

“Indra, Anya’s friend.” The other woman also shook their hands.

“Nice to meet you both,” Raven said, smiling. “And happy birthday, Anya.” Clarke nodded in agreement.

“Likewise, and thank you.”

“Excuse me,” came Lexa’s voice. “Large tray of vegetables behind you.” They all moved out of the way to let Lexa through to the table so she could put the tray down. “I see you’ve introduced yourselves already?”

“Yep,” said Clarke.

“Oh, Clarke, I have something to show you. Come with me.” Lexa took hold of her arm and pulled her back into the house. She led her through the kitchen, to the living room, then down a hallway to what Clarke assumed was her bedroom.

Lexa reached into her closet and pulled out a dress. Smoothing it out she said, “I got this dress the other day, I need your opinion on it. Do you think it’s nice enough for a formal dinner with a scholarship committee?”

“I think so, yeah,” Clarke said. Then she smiled because she got an idea. “But I think I’d have to see you in it to make sure.”

Lexa smiled too. “I can arrange for that. I’ll be right back.” A few minutes later she returned. “How is it?”

Clarke couldn’t breathe yet again. The dark green of the dress matched Lexa’s green eyes, and it greatly accented the shape of her body. Clarke knew her mouth was open and her eyes were wide, but she had no control over her body. “I-it’s great, you look great. You’re great.”

“Really? It’s not too much? Or too little?” She adjusted the dress a little, tugging it lower.

“No,” was all Clarke could squeak.

Their faces were incredibly close now, so close they could feel each other’s breath on their face. Suddenly “Can’t say no to this” was coming from Clarke’s lips. She gasped and stepped back in embarrassment. Lexa burst out laughing.

“Wow Clarke, obsessed much?” she said, doubled over.

“I’m sorry, oh my god, I am so sorry.” Clarke’s face was absolutely hot, she was surprised she hadn’t burned to the ground yet. “That was horrible, I’ll never do it again.”

“No, no, I thought it was cute. Funny and horrible, but cute. Feel free to do that any time.”

“Okay,” Clarke laughed nervously. She still wasn’t exactly over being so close to the other girl, who apparently didn’t mind that she had just made a fool of herself. In fact she thought it was funny and cute. Not something Clarke would have wished for normally, but this was okay. She could work with this.

“Clarke? I think you’re doing what Raven would call ‘gaping’ right now.”

“Probably,” she admitted. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I welcome any gaping from you. Your face is super red, by the way, do you want me to go get you some water?”

“What? No. Yes? No.”

“Well which one is it?”

“You.”

“What?” Lexa looked amused.

Clarke started to back away some more. “Um, I’m going to go? Before I make an even bigger ass of myself.”

“Alright,” Lexa chuckled. “They’re probably done grilling the food anyways. I’ll be out in a second if you want to wait out in the hall.”

“Okay.” Clarke went out into the hallway as Lexa shut the door behind her. She spotted Raven hobbling down the hall towards her.

“Hey, Clarkey, I was just about to come find you. What were you two up to?”

“She just wanted to show me--”

“Hey Raven.” Lexa opened the door and quickly stepped out, already fully changed. “Is the food ready?”

“Yeah,” she said slowly. “I was just, um, about to come get you.”

“Great!” Lexa left them in the hallway.

“You better give me the details later,” Raven muttered.

Clarke and Raven went join the others, who told them to grab a plate and some food. Anya reminded them that there were sodas in the cooler. They talked as they ate, about various things like where Indra worked, and where the four high school seniors were planning on doing after they graduated. Raven, of course, was going to continue working with Wick at the shop while she went to school for mechanical engineering. Octavia was going to school for Anthropology with an emphasis in Ancient China. Clarke for medicine. Lexa just shrugged and said she didn’t really know what she wanted to study yet, but that she definitely wanted to go to school.

“Most likely for social work,” she told them.

Indra worked for a small gaming company, Trikru, that was developing a few new games at the moment. One was already in beta testing, so she actually had a copy of it, which she were willing to let everyone try after they ate. Lincoln and Bellamy also worked with her, which is how Bellamy knew Lincoln. They finished up their food, then brought all the leftover food and stuff inside. Anya went over to start up the console, while the rest of them threw away the trash and put the food away. Just as they were all getting ready to settle into the living room, Lincoln started singing Happy Birthday, and Lexa came out of the kitchen with a cake. Everyone joined in, and when the song ended Anya blew out the candles.

“What did you wish for?” Lincoln asked.

“If I tell you it won’t come true,” she replied, picking up the knife to cut the cake. Plates with cake were passed around until they all had some. Then they decided who would get to try the game first and were on their way to hours of laughter and friendly banter. 

Around nine, Bellamy announced that he was tired, and that he would be taking Octavia and himself home. Octavia looked upset because she was in second place to Lexa again and she wasn’t ready to go. Anya laughed and said she was welcome over any time to practice. This seemed to satisfy her, so after one last round, she went home with her brother. Raven also looked like she was about to fall asleep.

“I think I’ll also be heading out,” said Clarke. “I have to take Raven back to her house. She should get to bed.”

“I don’t want to go,” Raven whined, her eyes snapping open. “I’m awake.” She struggled to stand up to adjust the way she was sitting, but she had been sitting on the couch for too long and her leg had gotten stiff.

“Right. Time to go.”

Clarke wrapped an arm around her shoulder so she could lean against her. Raven resisted at first, but then realized she wouldn’t be able to even stand on her own so she gave in to Clarke’s assistance. They said their thanks and goodbyes, wishing Anya one last happy birthday, then went down the street to Raven’s Jeep.

“Do you think you can drive?”

“Yeah, I don’t need two legs to drive. Have a good night Clarke, don’t think I’ve forgotten about what I saw earlier.” Raven patted her friend’s back, then climbed into the large car. Clarke shut the door after her and watched as the Jeep disappeared around the corner before going into her house.

“Mom?” she called.

“In the kitchen!”

“Hey mom.”

“How was the party?”

“It was fun. Anya works for a gaming company so we got to play one of their games that’s not even officially out yet.”

“That sounds nice.”

“Octavia keeps losing to Lexa, it was actually really entertaining. I’m really tired, Mom, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay Clarke,” Abby hummed. “Sleep tight.”

Clarke went upstairs to her room and changed out of her clothes. She climbed into bed, turned off her bedside lamp, and curled up for the night under her blankets thinking about Lexa.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How lucky we are to be alive right now."

The school year progressed, and their class took several more field trips, many of which Clarke dreaded. Not because of the location (anywhere was better than school), but because of her awkward, flirtatious, electric relationship she had with her seat buddy. Lexa always insisted that they be lab partners as well. Abby invited Lexa and her family over for Thanksgiving dinner, though Lincoln ended up going to the Blakes’ instead. During winter vacation, they spent almost every day together, either at Bellamy’s place playing video games, Clarke’s house, or Lexa’s house. Lexa and Octavia were always neck and neck when they played against each other, but Lexa always let Clarke win when they played.

It was New Year’s Eve. Everyone was at Woods’ place for a party, including Monty, Jasper, Finn, a few other employees from Trikru and someone from Anya’s squad at Polis, Gustus. Lexa brought Clarke away from the party, back to her room, shutting the door behind them. Clarke was used to them being alone together now, they had been several times since the first time Lexa visited her house. But still, both of them had had quite a lot to drink already (Anya didn’t mind as long as no one got hurt), and Clarke could barely keep herself in check as she stared at Lexa removing her sweater.

Lexa noticed her watching. There wasn’t anything she wanted more in this moment than for Clarke to watch her. And she wanted to watch Clarke. She knew they would only have a few minutes before they had to be back out for the countdown to midnight, so she had to act fast or not at all. They had been flirting for months now, there was no doubt in Lexa’s mind that Clarke liked her, neither was there any doubt that she liked Clarke. Those flirtatious words and glances and actions were stirring enough, but Lexa wanted to be able to _feel_ Clarke’s reactions to them, not just watch them.

Their lips were inches apart again, just like the first time they had hung out, just like those many times they thought they were alone but one of their friends would come bursting through the door. This time, nobody came through the door, and Lexa closed the distance between them.

If their relationship had been electric before, it was nothing compared to this. Clarke’s breath was taken away as she let her eyes flutter shut and felt Lexa’s warm lips on hers. She felt them move away and Lexa’s forehead touched hers, and for a moment Clarke thought it was just a dream. She had to check. Her lips enveloped Lexa’s again and she knew it wasn’t a dream. It was very real: she was kissing Lexa.

There was a knock at the door. “Lovebirds! We’re about to do the countdown!”

Clarke and Lexa broke apart and looked at each other, both smiling slightly. There it was, the interruption.

“I would have waited until midnight to do that, but I didn’t want to make a fool of myself in front of the others if you didn’t feel the same way,” Lexa whispered.

“Well now you can and you won’t,” Clarke whispered back before kissing her again.

Lexa laced her fingers with Clarke’s then dragged her down the hallway back to the living room. Whoever had knocked was already gone.

They knew eyes were on them, but nobody said anything because of the countdown. Anya handed them each a glass of champagne.

“5...4...3...2...1! Happy New Year!”

Everyone cheered.

Lexa seemed to chicken out as she moved to kiss Clarke’s cheek, but Clarke turned her head so that their lips met instead. There was another cheer as they separated.

“Finally!” cried Raven.

“We were wondering when you two would get together,” Anya laughed.

Lexa blushed profusely and Clarke looked down at her feet, smiling.

“I-I--we--” Lexa protested.

“Hush Lexa we all know you guys have been a nanometer away from getting together since the trip to the aquarium. I’ll never forget the day you came home raving about some blonde named Clarke.”

Clarke looked up at Lexa and squeezed her hand. “Really? ‘Raving about some blonde’?”

“Oh please, I was not raving.”

“Yeah, and I’m not always gaping.”

“So you admit to it?”

“Well, no, but--”

Bellamy started laughing loudly. “Look at you two, already arguing like a married couple!”

“We are not,” they both said together. This got everybody in the room laughing too.

“This is so embarrassing,” Clarke muttered, slapping her free hand to her forehead.

“Alright, alright, let’s leave them alone,” Lincoln said. “There will be plenty of time to tease them now that they’re together. Ow!” Octavia had punched him fairly hard at that last comment.

“You’re just glad they’re not teasing us anymore,” she said. Lincoln and Octavia had been together practically since the day they met. Being the only couple the group knew, they were the only available victims until now.

“Maybe,” he admitted.

Lexa let go of Clarke’s hand and put her arm around her waist reassuringly. “It will all be over once Monty and Jasper get together,” she whispered into her ear.

“What was that? I heard my name,” Jasper said, jumping down from the table he was sitting on.

“Nothing,” was all Lexa would say as she looked pointedly at Monty. He merely shrugged.

For the rest of the night, the group tried to keep the teasing to a minimum, meaning it was nonstop and there was nothing they could do about it. Finally, most of them decided they were too drunk and too exhausted to continue their celebration of the new year. Jasper, Monty, Finn, and Raven lived too far away to make it all the way home safely, so they all went back to Clarke’s house with her. Lexa remained at her own house with Anya, Indra, Gustus, and the other employees. Bellamy, Lincoln, and Octavia walked the couple blocks back to Bellamy’s apartment.

Clarke couldn’t help but replay the kiss in her head as she got herself and her friends ready for bed. She always thought about Lexa at night before she went to sleep but this was different. This time she knew Lexa probably thought about her too. It made her grin uncontrollably and she was glad her friends were already passed out either in the living room or the floor of her bedroom. Clarke was head over heels for Lexa Woods and, in this moment, she was ready to embrace the feeling for all it was for the rest of her life.

"How lucky we are to be alive right now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are: The End. I'm not too good with endings, but I hope it was satisfying enough. Feel free to point out any mistakes I've made, and, as always, thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This work is cross posted on my Tumblr, which can be found at chipped-spines.tumblr.com.


End file.
